North Lenoir wins second straight

TARBORO -- North Lenoir overcame three fumbles, a surprise appearance by Tarboro running back Shaun Draughn and a fourth-quarter Tarboro rally Friday night to pick up a 19-13 win over the Vikings in Class 2-A Eastern Plains Conference play.

"This is a big win for us," North Lenoir coach Wayne Jackson said. "I knew going in an athlete like Shaun Draughn, he was going to be out there if he could."

Draughn finished the night with 172 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown. He was not expected to play in the game Wednesday afternoon due to a bone bruise on his knee, but Tarboro coach Jeff Craddock said that doctors left the decision up to Draughn, and he decided to suit up.

But North Lenoir (3-5, 1-0) had an answer for Draughn in the form of Eric Whitfield. The senior fullback torched the Tarboro (2-6, 0-2) defense for 123 yards and all three Hawks scores, including a first-half romp of 79 yards for a 7-0 North Lenoir advantage.

North Lenoir appeared to be in control for most of the second half, building on a 7-0 halftime lead when Eric Whitfield capped an 82-yard, 6-play drive that lasted less than two minutes with a 3-yard touchdown run. The point after kick was blocked, leaving the Hawks up 13-0.

North Lenoir's defense forced another punt, and Whitfield found the end zone again on a swing pass for a 23-yard touchdown completion from Andrew Manning.

On Tarboro's ensuing possession, Draughn burst through the middle of the line and ran untouched 53 yards for a score to cut the lead to 19-6 with 9:35 left in the game.

But on the Hawks' following possession, Tarboro was called for three personal foul penalties on the same play, two of them in a deadball situation, that allowed North Lenoir to move the ball down to the Tarboro 8 with 8:20 left.

On the next play, a fumble in the backfield was recovered by Tarboro to end the threat.

Tarboro, facing a third-and-12 on its next possession, completed an 85-yard pass on third-and-12 to move the ball to the Hawks eight. Draughn took the ball down to the two on the first-and-goal play, but the ball was moved back to the 18 on a personal foul penalty against the Vikings. On the next play, Draughn again ran the ball inside the five, but again the play was nullified, this time by a holding call. Tarboro eventually fumbled the ball on a fourth-and-goal from the 12.

The Vikings defense held, however, and once again Tarboro's offense was able to drive the ball inside the North Lenoir 10. This time, Tarboro was able to overcome two more penalties when freshman Jeremy Bellamy just got the ball into the end zone on a fourth down play to cut the lead to 19-13 with two minutes left.

Tarboro then tried an onside kick, but it was recovered by North Lenoir's Josh Reese and the Hawks ran out the clock.